experience art

past exhibitions

May 7 to 9, 1998

Forest Expo '98: Tools of the Trade

Various Artists

The Prince George Art Gallery is pleased to present our third annual art exhibition held in conjunction with Forest Expo. It all started in 1994, when we held a local and regional exhibition featuring paintings on sawblades. This year, the fun and adventure continues with art on work boots, work gloves, and paintings on a forestry theme.

For this exhibition, artists have created some very personal interpretations of what forestry meant to them, such as in Perry Melenka’s portrait of his father in Dedication and David Whittaker’s interpretation of a 1940s photo of his great grandfather’s sawmill in CB Hoff Sawmill.

The tools of the forestry industry are reinterpreted by artists and turned into humorous art objects. Annerose Georgeson for example, transforms work gloves into bits of nature. She says, “I encourage the workers to...cherish small bits of nature. I acknowledge that many workers already have been doing this for years.” Artists and foresters both recognize the beauty and fragility of nature.

There are more connections between art and forestry than one might think, at first. Wood has a long custom as a wonderful medium for sculpture and printmaking. Trees and forests have been a long-standing inspiration for artists from many different cultures. To see a painting by Emily Carr is to feel yourself transported into an old growth forest. To view a Chinese Buddhist landscape painting is recognize that for these people, nature was an embodiment of eternal truths. In this exhibition in Prince George, we see a variety of approaches to art making and healthy dose of humour.